How did you feel about Lucy and William by the end of the book?

How did you feel about Lucy and William by the end of the book?

William and Lucy had spent a lifetime together raising a family, supporting their distinct careers and loving one another despite their inability to communicate fully and keep from hurting their partner. By the end of the book, they had each come to accept the other in a much more honest way. Lucy realizes that William is not always the authority she was imagining and William understands the value of Lucy's steadfast nature and vulnerability. I found them both to be compelling characters.

Being with Lucy and William is like being with people you have known all your life, they have a very strong connection as they have seen each other's flaws and still love each other. I felt like we were treated to a glimpse of their lives.

I felt like I had traveled a family journey with them. I also felt like, if they were real people, that they would be people I would like to know.

By the end of the book, I felt I really knew and understood each of these characters. ES did a fantastic job of developing each of these characters. I felt like I could go to lunch with Lucy and listen to her explain why she went with William to Maine and now is going on vacation with him. And it all made perfect sense, they were great friends.

I believe in the beginning of the book, When William shared his terrors with her, I questioned their divorce because it seemed such a personal, vulnerable thing to do with a former spouse. I thought they were compatible, maybe in a nurturing way. And then after reading about the life they had together throughout the book, it was obvious why they divorced and I no longer saw them as a viable couple.

I still have a difficult time resolving his reification of Lucy (P198) re: her uniqueness, her spirit, "There has never been anyone in the world like you," "You steal people's hearts, Lucy," when I didn't feel he often treated with much respect. That felt odd and incongruent.

Lucy's character seemed somewhat immature or childlike to me despite her age and experiences. I found it hard to believe that she is an author. William should never be married as he has proven over and over, yet he may just become a good friend to Lucy.

They divorced because William was no longer honest in their relationship, he had quite a few affairs. But he still valued Lucy’s friendship and opinion. After the death of David, William and Lucy realized they are friends at a deep level. He confides in Lucy about his nightmares and terrors. She helps him with his quest about his half-sister. They are both broken individuals but still can reach each other in the depth of their pain.

I wasn't a big fan of William through most of the book because I agreed with Lucy, he could be exasperating and a bit juvenile. At the end of the book when he showed up and asked her to go to the Cayman Islands, I decided he was pathetic. It seemed he wanted to relive the past where Catherine would take them on trips and they (William and Catherine) would sit by the pool and read and chat (while Lucy tended to the girls in the pool), and that he was trying to substitute Lucy for Catherine. I was disappointed with Lucy for agreeing to go on the trip. I don't think she wanted to go and don't understand why she didn't decline.

I honestly found them rather self-involved. It is a rare privilege that most people do not share to have the mental energy to spend so much time chewing on old traumas. I realize they were both deeply damaged by their childhoods, especially Lucy, but the author's choice to center this felt a bit self-indulgent to me.